Egg breaking and separating machine



April 27, 1965 1.. SHELTON EGG BREAKING AND SEPARATING MACHINE GriginalFiled Feb. 10, 1961 10 Sheets-Sheet 1 2 O 2 I 6 I M 5 N 1 w n l 2 a 2m 6I 1 7 6 0 4 s e/ h o z u 7 a b9 4 054 .r 7 B 6 2 I o n 4 A w W 2 5 5 m a6 H F: CL..- Q 4 m 9 M 6 6 9 6 l1 4 2 9 BY M ATTORNEYS April 27, 1965 L.SHELTON EGG BREAKING AND SEPARATING MACHINE Original Filed Feb. 10, 196110 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.2.

O so2 lik INVENTOR LEON ARD SH ELTON J W #M ATTORNEYS BY M/M April 27,1965 L. sHEL'roN 3,180,331

EGG BREAKING AND SEPARATING MACHINE Original Filed Feb. 10, 1961 10Sheets-Sheet 3 296 In .16 1 224 g 396 INVENTOR LEONARD SHELTON ,JM M WEMATTORNEYS April 27, 1965 1.. SHELTON me BREAKING AND SEPARATING momma:

Original Filed Feb. 10, 1961 10 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG. 4.

6 sw m m N 8 O W) 1V 1 A B m T. v 8 n U 6 6 n l L 1 .I 6 8 I 5. V 4 34 mw 4 5 m M J 3 a v w m 1 m5 1 4 6 D 5 m z E A m 1 4 6 4 N 5 2 I I l 2 2 06 25 2 B E a M |l I 5 L .Tl k //fl// 2/ 4 2 2 9L E 8 w m a 5 4 9 6 7 M O8 2 7 6 6 5 2 6 5 O 8 2 m a. 3

l Y X m Mli m 2 o 2 O l 0 768 w 8 6 5 a o 2 6 2 2 ATTORNEYS BY M M April1965 1.. SHELTON 3,180,381

EGG BREAKING AND SEPARATING MACHINE Original Filed Feb. 10, 1961 10Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR LEONARD SHELTON see J w/M 27 10 102 27 F IO 0ATTORNEYS April 27, 1965 1.. SHELTON 3,180,351

EGG BREAKING AND SEPARATING MACHINE Original Filed Feb. 10, 1961 10Sheets-Sheet 6 FIG.6'. FIG].

\,; YQ I40 -r- I36 I f I42 I 7 7 7 f f z i INVENTOR LEONARD SHELTONATTORNEYS April 27, 1965 L. SHELTON 3,180,331

EGG BREAKING AND SEPARATING MACHINE Original Filed Feb. 10, 1961 10Sheets-Sheet 7 FIG. .9.

INVENTOR LEONARD SHELTON BY W M ATTORNEYS April 27, 1965 L. SHELTON3,180,381

EGG BREAKING AND SEPARATING MACHINE Original Filed Feb. 10, 1961 10Sheets-Sheet 9 ses FIG. 16';

INVENTOR L EONARD SHELTON A/W MW #M ATTORNEYS April 1965 L. SHELTON3,180,381

EGG BREAKING AND SEPARATING MACHINE Original Filed Feb-- 10, 1961 10Sheets-Sheet 10 '0 INVENTOR LEONARD SHELTON JMMW M ATTORNEYS UnitedStates Patent 3,186,381 AND SEIARA ENG MAQIHNE Leonard Shelton, Qmaha,Nebn, assignor to Continent Egg Corporation, Chicago, 1th, a corporationof Illinois Original application Feb. 19, 1961, Ser. No. 88,395, nowPatent No. 3,032,804, dated Mar. 26, 1963. Divided and this applicationOct. 11, 1962, Ser. No. 229360 11 Claims. (Cl. 146-2) This inventionrelates to an apparatus for breaking e gs and separating the yolks,albumen and empty shells from each other. More in particular it relatesto an apparatus for accomplishing these functions which has improved eggholding means, improved egg breaking means and a selector means wherebycertain yolks and whites may be collected separately from other yolksand whites.

This application is a division of copending application Serial No.88,395, filed February 10, 1961, entitled Egg Breaking Mechanism, nowPatent No. 3,082,804.

Machines which automatically break an egg and separate the yolk, albumenand shell from each other are known in the prior art. Known machines foraccomplishing these functions basically comprise a clamping means forholding the whole unbroken egg, knife means for breaking the egg shellwhile being held in the clamping means and various containers locatedbelow the clamping means for accepting and separating the contents ofthe shell. The machine of the invention, while having some features incommon with known machines, has many im provements in the egg-holdingmeans, egg-breaking means and the separating means which result in therapid and eflicient processing of large batches of eggs regardless ofthe range of size, shape and condition of the shell and the quality ofthe contents.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide an egg-holding meanswhich positively holds an egg against all movement while at the sametime exerts no crushing forces on the egg shell.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an eg holding meanswhich will accept in sequence eggs of different shape, size and shellcondition.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an eggholding andbreaking means which efiiciently cracks but does not shatter an eggshell.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an eggbrcaking andseparating machine with selector means which permits an operator tocontrol the dumping cycle so that yolks of like quality are collectedseparately from whites of like quality.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an eggbreakingmachine with selector means as stated and with reset means to canceloperation of the selector means.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an egg breaking andseparating machine with a plurality of interchangeable cup means forreceiving yolks, whites and whole eggs whereby whole eggs and blends ofyolks and whites may be obtained.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an efficientegg-breaking and separating machine in which a single multisurfaced camsequentially actuates means for holding, breaking and dumping eggs.

Brief description of the invention The above objects are attained withthe machine to be described hereinafter in detail. First, however, abrief description of the machine and its operation will be given. Theprimary components-an egg-holding means, a knife means, a yolk-receivingcup and an albumen-receiving cupare mounted one below the other on abox-like frame consisting of a front plate 12, a rear plate 14, a bottomplate 16 and two short side plates 18. This com- Patented Apr. 2?, 1955bination together with the elements within the frame is hereinafterreferred to as the breaking head 19.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation partly in section of the right side of theegg-breaking head of the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a rear elevation of the breaking head of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of the left side of the breaking head ofFIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a front elevation of the breaking head of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view of the breaking head of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 6 is an elevation section of the rear half of the breaking headtaken on the line 66 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 7 is an elevation section of the front half of the breaking headtaken on the line 7-7 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 8 is an elevation of the right side of the left half of theegg-holding elements in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 9 is a horizontal section taken on the line 9-? of FIGURE 1 androtated one-quarter turn in a clockwise direction.

FIGURE 10 is the same as FIGURE 9 with some of the parts in differentpositions.

FIGURE 11 is an elevation taken on the line ill-11 of FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 12 is a perspective view of some of the elements of FIGURE 9.

FIGURES 13-16 are schematic views of some of the egg-holding elements ofFIGURE 1 showing the operation of the elements.

FIGURE 17 is a schematic elevation of the table and cam shaft whichactuate the elements of the breaking head of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 18 is a schematic plan view of the table and cam shaft of FIGURE17.

The egg-holding means of the invention comprises two slightly spacedhalf-cups 26 with concave surfaces facing each other and upwardly andtwo pivoted fingers 56 which can be lowered onto the top of an egg inthe cavity formed between the half-cups 20. Each half-cup 20 and eachfinger 56 is attached to the end of one of two horizontal parallelshafts 36 and 38 so that rotation of the shafts in opposite directionswill drop the egg contents by swinging the half-cups 2%) and fingers 56away from each other. The knife 130 comprises two half-blades 102 eachof which is pivoted immediately below the half-cups. When the shafts arerotated so that the half-cups are adjacent each other, the twohalf-blades 162 are in contact with each other and form a knife 100which can be snapped upwardly into the narrow space between thehalf-cups to crack the shell of an egg. After the shell is cracked bythe knife, each shaft is rotated in opposite directions so that thehalf-cups 20, fingers 56 and half-blades 162 separate and allow the yolkand white to drop by gravity to a yolk cup 124 which is directly below.Each half of the egg shell is held by a finger 56, a half-cup 20 and ahalf-blade 102 and is released later by movement of the finger 56 awayfrom the half-cup 20. The yolk cup 124 is sized to hold only a yolk sothat substantially all of the white either misses the yolk cup entirelyor overflows from the yolk cup and drops into an albumen cup 224 whichis directed below the yolk cup. The yolk cup 124 is attached to the endof a horizontal shaft 131 which can be rotated 90 so that the yolk canbe dumped into a container. The albumen cup 224 is similarly mounted sothat the white can be dumped into a different container. The ends of theshafts 36 and 38 opposite the attachment of the half-cups 20 projectbeyond the rear plate 14 where shaft 38 terminates in a cam surface.Shafts 134 and 234 opposite the attachment of the yolk and albumen cupsare provided with extensions 165 and 265 respectively which terminate incam surfaces beyond rear plate 14-. The breaking head 16 is mounted onthe periphery of a horizontal rotatable table 704 in such a positionthat the shafts are horizontal and the cammed ends of shaft 38 and ofextensions 165 and 265 on shafts 134 and 234 point toward the center ofthe table. A vertical stationary cam shaft 716 projects through a centeropening in the table and is provided with a varietyofhorizontallyprojecting cams and dogs on its vertical'surface. As the table 764carrying the breaking head is turned about the stationary cam shaft 716,the cammed ends of the shaft 38, and of the extensions 165 and 265 onshafts 124 and 224 and other cammed surfaces which project from thebreaking head 10 engage the horizontal cams and dogs projecting from thestationary cam shaft 716 and are actuated in a preselected sequence anddirection. The breaking head 10 also includes a selector means whichpermits an operator of the apparatus, after having observed the contentsof an egg, to change the sequence of dumping yolks and whites. Theoperator can, for example, collect inedible yolks or whites separatelyfrom perfect yolks or whites. The selector means includes four pushbuttons (I, II, III and IV) each of which when pressed changes thehorizontal position of the extension 165 on the yolk cup shaft or of theextension 265 on the albumen cup shaft. The horizontal position of theextensions determines the moment in the. cycle at which the extensionsand consequently the shafts 124 and 224 will be rotated by a dog on acam shaft 716, as will be-understood from the detailed descriptionto bepresented later. The selector means is provided with two reset features.One reset feature permits the operator to cancel the effect of anybutton previously pressed and the other automatically cancels at the endof each cycle the effect of any button pressed during that cycle. a

Egg holding means (FIGURES 1, 4, 5 and 8) As shown in FIGURES 1 and 5each half-cup 20 consists of a rear wall 22, side wall 24, a bottom wall26 and 'a front Wall 27. When the two half-cups 20 are in the eggholdingposition, the concave surfaces of each half-cup face upwardly and towardthe concave surfaces of the adjacent half-cup 20 so that an egg-holdingcavity is formed. A horizontal section taken through the halfcups, therear walls, side walls and front walls would form generally an ellipse,and a vertical section through 'the space between half-cups, the rearwall,,bottom Wall and front wall would form generally a semicircle. Therear wall of each half-cup 20' is, however, somewhat flattened and makesan angle of about 122 with the bottom wall. It has been found that thisarrangement of bottom and rear walls is particularly advantageousbecause every egg, regardless of diameter, comes to a position at restin the cavity which is optimum for .the cracking operation by theknifeltlt). The half-cups 20 are of sufficient size to form a cavitywhich will readily hold a large egg.

The exterior of each rearwall 22 of each half-cup 26 is welded to ahorizontal projection 30 which is welded to the front vertical edge of avertical support plate 32. The top of vertical support plate 32 iswelded to the lower surface of the end portion of right horizontal shaft36. Left horizontal shaft 38 similarly supports the other halfcup 20.Shafts 36 and 38 pass through holes in front plate 12 and rear plate 14and are held in place by collar 46 and gears 42 which are held to theshafts by set screws. Each' gear 42 meshes with the other so. thatrotation of one shaft results in opposite rotation of the other shaft.The rear end of left shaft 38 terminates in cam 46 which is an upwardlyprojecting arm rigidly attached to the rear end of left shaft 38.Half-cups 20 can be moved apart by a cam on stationary cam shaft 716 tobe described later, which rotates cam 46 90 in a clockwise direction asviewed in FIGURE 2 so that shafts 38 and 36 and 4 the elements attachedthereto rotate 90 in opposite directions (FIGURES 13-16). When thestationary cam releases cam 46, the shafts 3 8 and 36 are returned totheir original position by spiral spring 52 attached at one end to acollar on shaft 38 and at the other end to pin 54 mounted on front plate12.

Associated with each half-cup 20 is an egg-holding finger 56 whichrotates through an are about pivot pin 64 which pivotally connects theinner end of finger 56 with vertical support plate 32. Each finger 56has two spaced lateral projections 58, the free ends of which havedownwardly projecting points 60. When fingers 56 are in an up position,an egg can be placed in the cavity between adjacent half-cups 20. Whenthe fingers 56 are lowered, the points 60 come into contact with theupper surface of the egg and hold the egg in position in the cavity. InFIGURES 1, 4 and 8 fingers 56 are in their lowermost position, therebeing no egg in the cavity. In FIGURE 3, the fingers have been omittedin order that other elements may be more clearly shown. Fingers 56 arecaused to pivot about a pivot pin 64 by operation of a cam-operated pushrod 76 which actuates links 66,68 and 69. 7 As sho-wn'in FIGURES 1 and5, a single push rod 76 passes through the breaking head 16. The

rear end' of push rod 76 is provided with a horizontal slot in whichacock lever 92 and a crack lever 86 are pivoted by a vertical bolt 84.Cock lever 92 is pivotally supported by a bolt 96 on a bracket 94 whichis attached to the rear plate 14 of the breaking head 10. The rear endof cock lever 92 is provided with a roller 93 which engages cam A onstationary cam shaft 716. When pushrod 76 moves rearwardly as a resultof movement of cock lever 92, a vertical projection on the front end ofpush rod 76 engages the edges of sleeves 72 which are slidably mountedon shafts 36 and 38. Continued rearward movement of push rod 76 movessleeves 72 rearwardly against spiral springs '74. Rigidly attached toeach sleeve 72 is a downwardly projecting fin 70 to which 'the rear endof link 68 is pivoted by a bolt 65. Link 68 is pinned at its front endto the upper end of link 69 and to the upper end of link 66 by a pin 67.The lower endof link 66 is pivoted to finger 56 forwardly of pin 64 by apin 71., The lower end of link 69 is pivoted to horizontal projection359 on support plate 32 by a pin 73. Rearward movement of sleeve 72 andfin 70 by the push rod 76 tends to straighten the linkage formed bylinks 66 and '68 with the result that. the outer-end of link 66 movesupwardly in an arc and carries with it finger 56. The linkage formed bylinks 66, 68 and 69 performs two critical functions when sleeve 72 andfin 76 are being returned to their at-rest position by spring 74.Firstly, the linkage is so interconnected that a very small percentageof the force exerted by spring'74 is transmitted to finger 56 after pushrod 76 releases the sleeve 72. As a result finger 56 contacts an eggshell with practically no crushing force. This function is particularlyimportant when the egg has an unusually thin shell or when the egg shellis unusually fragile as a result of having been slightly cracked duringprevious handling. It has been found that even eggs which have beencracked to the extent of having albumen leaking from them can be grippedby the fingers without being further cracked. Secondly, the linkage actsas a friction lock which prevents upward movement of finger 56 by anyforce ex cept that applied by push rod 76. That is, after push rod 76has been released, finger 56 is free to pivot downwardly but is lockedby links 66, 68 and 69 against upward movement. As a result, oncea'finger 56 engages its points 66 with an eggthere is little possibilitythat the egg will change its' position in the cavity formed by half-cups26. a V j Since each finger 56 is pivoted independently, the pairs ofpoints 60 engage the top of an egg independently. Thus, each pair ofpoints 60 settle gently and positively Egg breaking means (FIGURES 1, 3,4, 5 and 8) The egg-breaking knife 31% and associated linkages are shownin FIGURES l, 4, 5 and 8 in an uncooked or egg-breaking position and inFIGURE 3 in a cocked position. The knife 169 consists of two half-blades1492 each of which is pivoted at its rear end to the inner surface ofthe support plate 32 by a bolt 1%. When the half-cups 2% are in anegg-holding position as shown, for example, in FIGURES 4 and 5,half-blades 162 ongage each other along their longitudinal opposed surfaces. The egg-breaking knife 1% thus formed is free to swing into andout of the space between the half-cups 29 under the action of a linkageto be described next.

A cocking arm 112 is pivoted at its lower end to each half-blade 162 bya pin 184 located forwardly of pivot bolt 106. A link 120 is pinned atits lower end to cocking arm 112 by pin 11S and at its upper end to theinner surface of the vertical support plate 32 by a pin 121. Eachcocking arm 112 has a laterally and outwardly projecting pin 114-located toward its forward end. When fingers 56 are raised by actuationof cocking lever 92, the top of the fingers engage the lower surfaces ofpins 11 1. Continued upward movement of fingers 55 results in an upwardand rearward force on pins 114. Cooking arm H2 is moved by this force sothat pins 114 swing into notches 122. in support plates 32 as seen inFIGURE 8. Movement of cocking arm 112 also causes half-blades 192 topivot downwardly rand rearwardly about pivot bolt 166 and against theopposing action of spring 163 also as seen in FIGURE 8. When each pin114 reaches its position in notch 122 the position of cooking arm 112,link 12%) and half-blade ill-2 is such that these pieces remain inposition, hereinafter referred to as the cocked position, when theupward force exerted by fingers 55 is removed.

The egg-breaking movement of knife l st is initiated by forward movementof push rod 7 5. A dog B projecting from stationary cam shaft 715 willengage crack lever 86 (FIGURE 5) which is pivoted by a bolt Ell tobracket 5% on the rear plate is of the breaking head ll Pivotal movementof crack lever 86, counterclockwise as viewed in FIGURE 4, results in aforward force on bolt 84- and forward movement of push rod 76. Theforward end of push rod 3- 6 terminates in a short horizontal nub 32 onvertical projection 89. As push rod '76 moves forward, nub 82 engagesthe top pieces 115 on cocking arms 112. One end of each top piece iswelded to a different cocking arm 112; and the free end rests on top ofthe other cocking arm 1323-. Thus, when nub 82 presses forwardly on toppieces H6, equal forces are exerted on each cocking arm 312 and botharms 11?. are given a slight forward movement. This slight movementresults in an uncocking of the linkage between cocking arm 112,half-blade Hi2, link 129 and associated pins so that the spring 1&8snaps half-blade 3.92 into the egg-breaking position shown in FIGURE 1.Since the uncocking movement of both cocking arms 11... is simultaneous,the two half-blades 1 2 forming knife Ki t are snapped simultaneouslyinto the breaking position between the adjacent bottoin walls as of thehalf-cups 2d.

The snapping of knife 11% into the approximate middle of an egg restingin the half-cups 2i cracks the shell of the egg along its entire smallcircumference (FIG- URE l5). Fingers 55 hold their points in contactwith the top of egg and prevent any movement of the egg so that apositive, uniform, non-shell-shattering blow is always delivered by theknife flit: to the egg. The points 69 on fingers 56 continue to grip theshell after cracking, two points 6i) engaging each half of the shell andholding it in its associated half-cup 2%. As the breaking head 1t] movesto the next position around the stationary cam shaft il, a cam C willcause opposite rotation of shafts 36 and as described above. Each set ofhalf-blades 182, half-cups 2i), fingers 56, cocking arms 112 and theirassociated linkages are thereby caused to separate 180 from the otherset (FlGURE 16). Each half of the egg shell remains held in itsassociated half-cup 2i? and the contents of the egg fall freely into thecups below.

Yolk clip and shaft (FIGURES 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7) As seen in FIGURE 1 yolkcup 12 is mounted below half-cups 2% on shaft 131. Shaft 131 is notcentered with respect to half-cups 26, but an off-set portion 132 of theshaft places yolk cup 124 directly below the half-cups. Yolk cup 124 hasgenerally the shape of a hemisphere. However, the right side 12$ of thecup is higher than the left side to aid in accurately catching the yolkand to give a smooth, clean separation of the yolk from the White. Thevolume of the yolk cup is about that of an egg yolk so thatsubstantially all of the white either misses the yolk cup entirely orslips past the rim of the yolk cup and drips into the albumen cup 2.24below.

The yolk cup shaft 131 and associated elements 13 F175) aresubstantially the same as corresponding albumen cup shaft 231 andassociated elements 234-270 which are next described.

Albumen cup and shaft (FIGURES 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10 and I2) Albumen cup224 is mounted directly below yolk cup 124- on the forward end of shaft231and is considerably larger than the yolk cup. The egg white beingmore fluid than the yolk disperses somewhat during its fall fromhalfcups so and thus requires a larger cup. Albumen cup 224 is shownhemispherical in shape but the shape is not critical. As seen in FIGURE9, the rear end of shaft 231 telescopes into the forward end of anintermediate a shaft 234- which extends completely through the breakinghead. In the interest of clarity, shaft 234 and cooperating elementshave been omitted from FIGURE 1 and shown in detail in FlGURES 9 and 12.Shaft 231may be secured to shaft 23 by a set screw 235 as shown or by aquick-change coupling such as a bayonet coupling. A front coll r 236 ismounted, as with set screws, on shaft 2234 forward of wall 12; anintermediate collar 237 is mounted just behind wall 32; and a rearcollar 239 is mounted rearwardly of wall 14.

As seen in FIGURES 9 and 12, intermediate the ends of intermediate shaft234 a vertical slot 25% extends through the shaft. A bore 261 in therear portion of shaft 234 is coaxial with the slot 260. An albumenextension shaft 265 is slidable in bore 261 and projects rearwardlytherefrom. A key 262 riding in slot 266 looks the forward end of albumenextension shaft 265 to sleeve 2S5. Shaft 2&5 is thereby movablelongitudinally relative to shaft 234. The position of shaft 265 withinshaft 23 is changed by axially moving collar 256 with a linkage to bedescribed later. In FIGURE 10, shaft 255' and sleeve 2136 are shown in aposition forward of that shown in FIGURE 9. The rear end of shaft 265terminates in albumen cam 266 which has operating surfaces 268 and 270(FIGURE 2). As the breaking head it? passes certain horizontal dogsprojecting from stationary cam shaft 716, cam not will be rotated in adirection depending on which of surfaces 268 or 270 engages a dog. Thelongitudinal position of shaft 265 within shaft 234 determines whichdogs will activate cam see. As viewed in FIGURE 2 surface 268 of cam 266is in a position to be rotated by a dog. Rotation of shaft 265 causesrotation of 234 by virtue of the key 252 which locks the two shaftstogether. Shaft 231 and albumen cup 224 will thereby rotate and willeither dump an egg white into a container or return to the up positionafter dumping depending on the position of breaking head lit in thecycle.

A spring-biased lever and cam linkage isattached to intermediate shaft234 to give positive and rapid rota- 238 and 239 are attached to theintermediate shaft 234 near front plate 12. The arc through which shaft234 can rotate is determined by movement of wing 238 between upper stop249 and lower stop 242 which project rearwardly from front plate 12. Theouter end of wing 239 is pivoted by a pin 244 to an elliptical ring cam246 through which shaft 234 passes. A spiral spring 254 under tension isattached at one end to the ring cam 2 46 opposite the pin 244 and at theother end to a peg 255 on front plate 12. When albumen cup 224 is in theup position, the ring cam 246 and shaft 234 are in contact with eachother as seen in FIGURE 7. Wing 238 is also in contact with stop 240 andis held in this position by the tension of spring 254 acting through thelinkage formed by ring cam 246 and wing 239. When shaft 234. begins torotate against the tension of spring 254 as a result of interactionbetween cam 266 and a dog on the stationary cam shaft 716, wing 239cmshaft 234. changes the position of ring cam 246 relative to shaft 234.As shaft 234- rotates through about one-half of its arc, the pivot pointof wing 239 on the cam moves from one side of shaft 234 to the other. Asa result of this movement, spring 254 acts to continue the rotation andrapidly completes the movement of wing 238' to engagement with stop 242.The same rapid snap-action of shaft 234 returns wing 238 to engagementwith stop 24% when cam 266 is actuated in the opposite direction.

Dump selector means (FIGURES 1, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 12) The dump selectormeans permits the operator of the apparatus to adjust the longitudinalposition of yolk cam 166 and albumen cam 266 so that these cams areactuated at any of several preselected times in the cycle. As seen inFIGURE l'manually operated push buttons I, II, III

and IV are mounted on respective shafts which pass through front plate12 of the breaking head. Buttons I and II control the longitudinalposition of yolk extension shaft 165 and buttons III and IV control thelongitudinal pivot pin 3 92. The left end of lever 392 engages flange390 and the right end engages to the top of flange 258 ion slide collar256. When button III is pressed rearwardly by an operator, lever 392moves slide collar 256 and key-connected albumen extension shaft 265forward.

FIGURE 10 shows button III in its' rearward position.

iSlide'collar 256 is spring biased in a rearward direction by a returnlever 397 one end of which engages flange '258 on the side opposite theengagement of lever 392.

in tension has one end attached to bracket 262 and the other endattached to return lever 397 at a point intermediate its ends. I

The abovedescription of the linkages associated with button, III isapplicable to the linkages associated with button IV. The linkagebetween button IV and albumen cam shaft 265 is located immediately belowthe button 'III linkage and consists of elements 482-496which aresubstantial duplicates of elements 382-396, respectively. Center-pivotedhorizontal lever 492 and its pivot pin 4% are slightly offset from lever392 and its pivot pin 394 as seen in FIGURES'6 and .10. Lever 492beingbelow lever 392 engages the bottom of flange 253 on slide collar 256.The pressing of button IV to a full rearward position latches albumenextension shaft 265 in a position forward of the position resulting fromthe pressing of button III.

The above description of buttons III and IV is applicable to buttons Iand II respectively. Elements 132-196 associated withbutton I aresubstantial duplicates of elements 332-396, elements 282-296 associatedwith button II are substantial duplicatesof elements 482-496 andelements 197-199 associated with collar 156are substantial duplicates ofelements 397-399 associated with collar Push button latch means (FIGURES 1, 6, 7, 9,10 and 11) In the drawings with the exception of FIGURE10, albumen extension shaft 265 is shown biased in'its rear- .wardposition. In order to hold button III and its above described'linkage ina position which maintains albumen extension shaft 265 in aforwardposition against the.

support plate 628 and the other end engaging rotatable plate 620 so thatrotatable plate 620 is biased in a clock- ,wise direction as viewed inFIGURES 9 and 10. Rotatable plate 620 is held by spring 626 in contactwith a movable release lever 612 to be presently described. On ,theouter side of rotatable plate. 620 and adjacent the rear edge thereof, ahorizontal generally triangular latch horizontal lever 392 .is suportedby a bracket 396 and a piece 639 is attached as by welding. The forwardedge 632 of latch piece 639 acts as a camsurface for engagement withcollar 384 on button shaft 332 when button III is pressed rearwardly.Continued movement of collar 384 when'in engagement with edge 632 oflatch piece 308 rotates rotatable plate 626 counter-clockwise as viewedin FIGURES 9 and 10. When collar 334 moves rearwardly far enough tobecome disengaged from latch piece 630, spring 626 returns rotatableplate 620 to its former position so that the rear edge 634 of latchpiece 630 will engage the forward surface of collar 384 and will preventforward movement of button rod 382. The albumen :extension shaft 265having been moved forward bythe dump selector means described above isthereby latched in a forward position. FIGURE 10 shows shaft 265, buttonIII and all .interconnected elements in the latched position.

The means for latching push. button IV consists of a latch piece 631identical with latch .piece 630 and attached to rotatable plate 629below latch piece 630. When button IV is pressed to a full rearwardposition, collar 484 on button shaft 482 pushes aside surface 633 oflatch piece 631 and becomes latched by rear surface 635 of V The otherend of return lever 397 is pivoted by a pm 398 .to a bracket 202 on rearplate 14. A spiral spring 399 latch piece 631.

' The latch mechanism for buttons I and II, which consists of elements520-536, is analogous to elements 620-636 for buttons III and IV. Arotatable vertical plate 526 carries spaced latch pieces 530 and'531which latch buttons I and II in the same manner that latch pieces "630and 631 latch buttons III and IV. When button I -is pressed fully to therear, collar I84 becomes latched behind latch piece 539 and yolkextension shaft is held in a first forward position. When button II ispressed fully to the rear,'collar 284 becomeslatched behind latch piece531 and yolk extension shaft 165 is held in a second forward position.

is provided with two reset features for cancelling the effect ofpreviously pressed buttons. One reset feature is inherent in thedisclosed construction of the operatorcontrolled push button latch meansand permits the operator to cancel the effect of any button previouslypressed during a cycle. The other reset feature consists of a linkagewhich is actuated by stationary cam shaft 716 and which cancels, beforethe beginning of a new cycle, the effect of any button pressed duringthe old cycle.

The operator-controlled reset feature resides in the cooperation of thecollars on the push-button shafts with their respective latch pieces androtatable plates. Referring to FIGURE 9 it is seen that both collar 384on button shaft 382 and collar 484 on button shaft 482 are in theunlatched position. If either of buttons III or IV is pressed fully tothe rear, the collar on that button shaft will become latched in itsrearward position behind its respective latch piece, 63% or 631 as shownin FIGURE 10. If the other of buttons III or IV is then pressed fully tothe rear the previously latched collar will be reset to its unlatchedposition by spring 386 or 486, and the lastpressed button will becomelatched. This sequence is effected because both latch pieces 630 and 631are rigidly attached to rotatable plate 626 with the result thatmovement of either latch piece results in movement of the other. Forexample, if collar 384 has been latched behind surface 634 of latchpiece 630, it will be released by latch 63% and reset by spring 386 toits unlatched position when collar 484 moves latch piece 631 andconsequently rotatable plate 626 and latch piece 630. It will beunderstood that there is a distinct difierence between the position atwhich collar 3S4 unlatches collar 484 and the position at which collar384 becomes latched. Collar 384 will become unlatched when collar 434has rotated plate 626 a maximum in a counter-clockwise direction asviewed in FIGURE 3 but collar 484 will not become latched until it hasmoved rearwardly far enough to permit plate 629 to move slightlyclockwise into a latching posi tion. Thus, there is no possibility ofboth of collars 384 and 484 becoming latched at the same time. Thisconstruction also permits the operator to cancel the effect of afirst-pressed button without effecting the latching of thesecond-pressed button. As indicated above, a full rearward stroke of abutton is necessary to latch it in position, but less than a fullrearward stroke will unlatch a previously latched button. Therefore, ifthe operator has latched button III in its rearward position and laterdesires that neither button III nor button IV should be latched, he mayreset button III to a forward position by pressing button IV less than afull stroke. In practice a quick, jabbing motion of the operators handagainst button IV will force collar 484 sharply against latch piece 631so that plate 620 will be thrown counter-clockwise as viewed in FIGURES9 and 10 far enough to release collar 384.

The second reset feature for buttons III and 1V is actuated bystationary cam shaft 716. An L-shaped lower reset lever 66$) is pivotedby a pin 604 to a bracket 602 mounted on rear plate 14. A rod 606 whichpasses through rear plate 14 and rear cage plate 178 is pinned at itsrear end to the forward end of lower reset lever 6% by a pin 608. Aspring 669 biases rod 606 in a forward direction. At its forward end,rod 606 is pinned to one end of a release lever 612. The other end ofrelease lever 612 is pivoted by a pin 614 to a support bracket 618 onrear cage wall 178. As seen in FIGURE 11, rod 6196 and release lever 612are located near the lower end of rotatable plate 629. Near the centerof release lever 612 and on the upper surface thereof, a fixed pin 616is attached. This pin 616 engages the outer lower surface of rotatableplate 629 and causes plate 621) to rotate slightly counter-clockwise inFIGURES 9 and 10 when rod 606 is moved rearwardly by cam-actuated lowerreset lever 60%. Thus, when lower reset lever 600 1b is rotated slightlycounter-clockwise as viewed in FIG- URES 9 and 10 by a dog on stationarycam shaft 716, either of collars 384 or 484 which were latched byrotatable plate 62b will be released and reset to the forward position.

The reset features for buttons I and II are substantial duplicates ofthose just described with respect to buttons III and IV. Elements500-536 are analogous to elements 609-636 which have been describedabove and cooperate with collars 18d and 284. in the same manner thatelements 6fib-636 cooperate with collars 384 and 484. As is apparentfrom FIGURES l, 2 and 11, upper reset lever Silt) and its associatedrelease lever 512 are mounted above the push button linkages. Pin 516 onrelease lever 512 therefore engages upper rotatable plate 526 near thetop as seen in FIGURE 5.

Stationary cam shaft and fable (FIGURES 17 and 18) The stationary camshaft 716 and outer rotatable table 74M on which the breaking head 10rides are shown schematically in FIGURES l7 and 18. A base 713% which issupported by any suitable means (not shown) supports the table 104 andstationary cam shaft 716. The'table 704 is suitably journaled on base 7%for rotation about its own axis. Motor and gearing (not shown) issuitably connected with table 704 to rotate it at a predetermined speedaround cam shaft 716. The precise manner in which base 7190, table 704,and cam shaft 716 are interconnected forms no part of this invention andis therefore not shown in detail.

Table 794 consists of a vertical hollow cylindrical body 796 and ahorizontal outer flange 768. Breaking head 10 rests on the upper surfaceof flange 7638 and is attached along the lower portion of its rear plate14 to the body 706 of the table. In practice table 704 will be ofsufficient size to allow for attachment of 36 breaking heads 10 aroundits circumference. In order to simplify the drawings only one breakinghead 10 has been shown.

Stationary cam shaft 716 is coaxial with table 704 and consists of ahollow cylindrical body 717 and various exterior cams and dogs to benext described. Cam A is a horizontal flange which projects from thebody 717 of cam shaft 716 for engagement on its outer peripheral surfacewith the rollered end of cock lever 92 actuation of which cocks theknife liltl and drops the halves of the egg shell into a container 724.In order that the movement of cock lever 92 in both directions (andtherefore the movement of egg-holding fingers 56) occurs smoothly, theouter surface of a cam A slopes gradually into the surface of body 717at each end of the cam. This is particularly desirable at the end of thecam which releases cock lever 92 because this action permits fingers 56to close smoothly and gently on an egg held in half-cups 29. Dog B is ahorizontal metal plate projecting from body 717 for tripping crack lever86 thus actuating the knife 169. Cam C is a rigid metal strip spacedfrom body 717 by a plurality of rigid horizontal support bars 720. Thelower edge of cam C engages cam 46 on left shaft 38 so as to rotateshafts 36 and 38 and empty the contents of the cracked egg into yolk cup124 and albumen cup 224.

Dogs I) through M are horizontal bars projecting from body 717. One ofdogs E, F and G will engage and rotate carn 166 to dump the yolk intoone of containers 72.8, 730 or 732. Dogs E, F and G are of increasinglength so that the particular one which engages cam 166 will depend onthe horizontal position of cam 166 as determined by buttons I and II.Similarly dogs D, H and I are of increasing length, and one of thesewill engage cam 266 as determined by buttons III and IV to dump thewhite into one of containers 726, 734 and 736. Dogs K and L engage cams166 and 266 respectively after the yolk and white have been dumped andreturn the yolk r I I I r cup 124 and albumen cup 224 to the upposition. Near the end of the cycle, dogs I and M engage upper and lowerreset levers 500 and 600 respectively to reset but tons I through l'v'.

I I l W The operation of the invention The following sequence of stepsoccurs during one revolution of an egg breaking head around thestationary camshaft 714. In parentheses following the statement of eachstep is a brief statement of the interaction of the opposed cam surfaceson the cam shaft '7 16 and on the head 10 which produces the action.

(1) An egg is inserted manually or by a conveyor into the cavity formedby the two half-cups 29. time fingers 56 are up and the knife 100 is ina cocked position.)

(2) Fingers 56 lower into engagement with top of egg. (Cam A releasesspring biased cock lever 92.) (See also FIGURE 14.)

(3) Knife 100 cracks egg. (Dog B trips crack lever 86.) (See also FIGURE15.) v

(4) Half-cups 20, associated fingers 56 and half blades 102 separate byrotating 90 in opposite directions and remain separated.

yolk drops into yolk cup 124, white drops past yolk cup .into albumencup 224.

(Cam C rotates spring biased half-cup shaft 38 90 and holds it in thisposition.) (See also FIGURE 16.)

'(5) Operator observes condition of yolk and white and presses one ofthe four push buttons if he desires to dump either the yolk or whiteseparately from predumped perfect yolks and perfect whites. If the yolkand white of the new cracked egg are perfect and have separatedperfectly, no button is pressed and the yolk and white will (At this belaterrdumped into separate containers which already hold previouslydumped perfect yolks and whites.

(a) If the yolk is off-color, the operator presses button I a fullstroke to the rear so that the yolk cup 124 will later dump theoff-color yolk separately from the perfect yolks. '(Push button linkagehorizontally moves the cammed extension 165 on the yolk cup shaft awayfrom stationary cam-716.)

(12) If the yolk is inedible, the operator presses button II so that theyolk cup 124 will later dump the inedible yolk separately from both theperfect and off-color yolks. (Push button linkage moves the cammedextension 165 on the yolk cup shaft further away from stationary camshaft 716 than when button I is pressed.) If either button I or II ispressed less than a full stroke as, for example, with a quick jabbingmotion, the reset feature in the push button linkage will releasewhichever of button I i or II has been pressed and thus resets thecammed extension 165 on the yolk cup shaft to the position at which thecup is dumped when no button has been pressed. In

addition, if either button I or II has been pressed and ton linkagehorizontally moves the cammed extension 265 on the end of the albumencup shaft away from the stationary cam shaft 716.) I

(d) If the white is inedible, the operator presses button IV so that thewhite cup shaft will later dump the inedible white separately from boththe perfect white and the mixed egg. (Push button linkage moves cammedexset feature of the linkage is thesame as described above with respectto buttons Iand II. n v

(6) Fingers 56 move away fromassociated half-cups 26) to drop halves of.egg shell; fingers 56 continue to move away from half-cups 20 to engagepart 114 of knife linkage and thereby cock the. knife. (Cam A en: gagesand holds cock lever 92 until step 2 of the next cycle.)

(7) Albumen cup 224 rotates to dump perfect whites if neither button IIIor IV has been pressed. (Dog D rotates 90 the cammed extension 265 onalbumen cup shaft.) 7 V (8) Yolk cup 124 rotates 90 to dump perfectyolks if neither button I or II has been pressed. (Dog E rotates 90 thecarnrned extension on yoke cup shaft.)

. (9) Yolk cup 124 rotates 90 to dump off-color yolk if button I hasbeen pressed. (Dog F rotates90 the cammed extension 165 on yolk cupshaft.)

(10) Yolk cup 124 rotates 90 to dump inedible yolk if button II has beenpressed. (Dog G rotates 90 the cammed extension 165 on yolk cup shaft.)

I (ID-Albumen cup 224 rotates-90 to dump mixed egg if button III hasbeen pressed. (Dog H rotates 90 the oammed extension 265 on albumen cupshaft.)

(12) Albumencup 224 rotates 90 to dump inedible white if button IV hasbeen pressed. (Dog I rotates 90 the cammed extension 265 on albumen cupshaft.)

(13) Buttons I and II reset to perfect egg position. (Dog I trips upperreset lever 5430.)

14.) Yolk cup 124 returns to up position. (Dog K rotates 90, thecammedextension 165 on yolk cup shaft 'in a direction opposite to theprevious rotation.)

(15) Half-cups 20 with associated fingers and halfblades return toclosed position with fingers in up p sition. (Cam C releases half-cupshaft 38 which then rotates 90 under action of spring 52; earn Acontinues to engage and hold cock lever 92.)

(16) Albumen cup 224 returns to up position. L rotates 90 the cammedextension 265 on albumen cup shaft in a direction opposite; to theprevious rotation.)

(17) Buttons III and IV reset to perfect egg. position. (Dog M tripslower reset lever 660.)

The breaking head 10 is now ready to receive another egg as step 1 ofthe next cycle.

The disclosed sequence of dumping yolks and Whites and returning thecups 124 and 224'to an upright position is not critical and has beengiven only to illustrate one manner of operating a breaking head 10. Thebreaking head can easily be modified to dump whole eggs by removing theyolk cup 124 so thatyolk and white will drop together into cup 224.Various. blends of yolks and whites can be obtained byyoperating themodified head on the same rotatable table with beads which separatelydump yolks and Whites.

While a complete embodiment of the. invention has been shown anddescribed, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited tothe details of construction disclosed by way of illustration, as thesemay be changed and modified in form and arrangement by those skilled inthe 'art without departing from the scope of the invention which islimited only by the appended claims.

I claim: V 1. An egg breaking and separating head comprising: a verticalsupport; egg holding means projecting horizontally from the front ofsaid support; actuating meansfor said holding means attached to saidholding means and projecting horizontally. from the rear of saidsupport; egg breakof said support; a rotatable yolk cup shaft projectinghoritension 265 on the white cup shaft further away from a a 'cam shaft716 than when button III is pressed.) The rezontally from the front ofsaid support below the holding and breaking means; a yolk cup attachedto the front end of the yolk cup shaft; actuating means attached to therear end of said yolk cup shaft and projecting horizontally from therear of said support; a rotatable albumen cup shaft projectinghorizontally from the front of said support below the yolk cup shaft; analbumen cup attached to the front end of the albumen cup shaft;actuating means attached to the rear of said albumen cup shaft andprojecting horizontally from the rear of said support.

2. Egg breaking head as in claim 1 in which each f said actuating meansincludes a movable cam.

3. Egg breaking head as in claim 2 further comprising: means attached tosaid support for horizontally moving the actuating means for the yolkcup shaft; and means attached to said support for horizontally movingthe actuating means for the albumen cup shaft.

4. An egg breaking and separating head comprising means for breakingopen an egg to empty the Contents thereof, a pair of vertically spacedcups disposed below said egg breaking assembly for separating andcollecting the contents of the egg being emptied, means for rotat ablymounting said cups relative to said head, and means for rotating saidcups, said cups having laterally spaced cup stems whereby, when the eggcups are rotated to a dumping position, they are out of verticalalignment with each other.

5. An egg breaking and separating head comprising means for holding,clamping and cutting an egg into halves, means for separating the egghalves to empty the contents therefrom, a first cup disposed below saidegg holding means and being smaller in volume than the contents of theegg, a second cup vertically disposed below said first cup to receivethe overflow from said first cup, means for rotatably mounting said cupsrelative to said head, a longitudinally movable sleeve secured to eachof said rotatable mounting means, means on each of said rotatablemounting means and sleeve assembly adapted to be engaged to rotate saidcups, and means for position ing said sleeve longitudinally relative tosaid mounting means to selectively position said sleeve whereby the cupswill be dumped into various preselected containers.

6. An egg breaking and separating head comprising means for holding,clamping and cutting an egg into halves, means for separating the egghalves to empty the contents therefrom, a first cup disposed below theegg holding means, and being smaller in volume than the contents of theegg, a second cup larger than said first cup and vertically disposedbelow said first cup to receive the overflow therefrom, stem meanssecured to each of said cups, means for rotatably mounting said stemsrelative to said head assembly, means for rotating each of said cupsincluding a shaft, a longitudinally movable sleeve secured to eachshaft, means on said sleeve and shaft assembly adapted to be engaged torotate both cups, and means for positioning said sleeves longitudinallyrelative to their respective shafts to selectively position the sleeveswhereby the cups will be dumped into various preselected contamers.

7. An egg breaking and separating head comprising: a support; eggholding means projecting from a first side of said support; actuatingmeans for said holding means attached to said holding means andprojecting from a second side of said support; egg breaking meansassociated with said egg holding means; actuating means for saidbreaking means attached to said breaking means and projecting from saidsecond side of said support; a rotatable yolk cup shaft projecting fromsaid first side of said support below the holding and breaking means; ayolk cup attached to .a first portion of the yolk cup shaft; actuatingmeans attached to a second portion .of said yolk cup shaft andprojecting from said second side of said support; a rotatable albumencup shaft projecting from said first side of said support below the yolkcup shaft; an albumen cup attached to a first portion of the albumen cupshaft; actuating means attached to a second portion of said albumen cupshaft and projecting from said second side of said support.

8. The egg breaking and separating head of claim 7, including means forselectively positioning the actuating means attached to said yolk cupshaft and the actuating means attached to said albumen cup shaft wherebythe egg cups may be dumped into various preselected containers.

9. The egg breaking and separating head of claim 8, including means forretaining said cups in the dumped position, and means for resetting theegg cups to the normal position to receive a subsequent egg.

10. A machine for handling eggs and egg products including a supportassembly; an annular carrier rotatably mounted relative to said supportassembly; means for rotating said carrier; a plurality of unitary eggbreaking and separating heads mounted on said carrier andcircumferentially spaced thereon, each head comprising means forholding, clamping, and cutting an egg, means for separating the cutportions of the egg and means for collecting the contents of the shell,said collecting means being positioned below said holding, clamping andcutting means in constant substantially vertical alignment therewithduring the entire cycle of operation of the machine; and means on saidsupport assembly for controlling the operation of said clamping, cuttingand separating means.

11. A machine for processing eggs and egg products including a supportassembly; an annular carrier rotatably mounted on said support assembly;means for driving said carrier relative to said support assembly; a plurality of unitary, circumferentially spaced egg breaking and separatingheads secured to said carrier, each unitary head comprising a pair ofspaced egg cup halves for holding an egg, means for clamping an egg insaid egg cup halves at opposed portions thereof, means for cutting theshell between said egg cup halves, means for separating the egg cuphalves containing the opposed portions of the shell, means forcollecting the contents of the shell including vertically spacedcontainers for receiving the egg yolks and egg albumen, said collectingmeans being positioned below said holding, clamping and cutting means inconstant substantially vertical alignment therewith during the entirecycle of operation of the machine; and control means on said supportassembly for regulating the movementof said clamping, cutting andseparating means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,507,221 9/24Weiss.

2,465,176 3/49 Serbu 146-2 2,718,906 9/55 Adams et al 146-2 2,966,18412/60 Willsey.

J. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner.

10. A MACHINE FOR HANDLING EGGS AND EGG PRODUCTS INCLUDING A SUPPORTASSEMBLY; AN ANNULAR CARRIER ROTATABLY MOUNTED RELATIVE TO SAID SUPPORTASSEMBLY; MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID CARRIER; A PLURALITY OF UNITARY EGGBREAKING AND SEPARATING HEADS MOUNTED ON SAID CARRIER ANDCIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED THEREON, EACH HEAD COMPRISING MEANS FORHOLDING, CLAMPING, AND CUTTING AN EGG, MEANS FOR SEPARATING THE CUTPORTIONS OF THE EGG AND MEANS FOR COLLECTING THE CONTENTS OF THE SHELL,SAID COLLECTING MEANS BEING POSITIONED BELOW SAID HOLDING, CLAMPING ANDCUTTING MEANS IN CONSTANT SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL ALIGNMENT THEREWITHDURING THE ENTIRE CYCLE OF OPERATION OF THE MACHINE; AND MEANS ON SAIDSUPPORT ASSEMBLY FOR CONTROLLING THE OPERATION OF SAID CLAMPING, CUTTINGAND SEPARATING MEANS.